In the late seventies Ruislip Manor had but
one pub, The Windmill, and that was dying, and has
since died! On a Saturday night you would go in and mingle with the 20 or so
others in there.....

Then somebody had a great idea. "Lets open
another pub a few hundred yards away in what was Woolworths (or, finally, Manor
Foods)". How we all laughed....

So it was that JJ Moons in Ruislip Manors
was born, part of the Wetherspoons chain. And having laughed we all had to eat
humble pie, for this pub is, without doubt, one of the great success stories of
retailing in Ruislip Manor. Ironically The Windmill
started doing better once it opened, with customers unable to get in to Moons
walking there instead!

The Wetherspoons chain is well know for
offering quality pubs with good cheap food, cheap beer and no music, indeed even
the fruit machines are silent (even when they (don't) pay out!).

There is a tiny patio area out the back but
smoking is only allowed out front.

Where it is, by road

Drive in to Ruislip Manor and it is just
uphill from the railway bridge on the opposite side to the station. There is no
car park but there is local street parking and a pay and display next to it,
accessed from Pembroke Road.

My "local", I can be found in there about
once a week. Lively place that tends to be a meeting place for folk, who then
move on to other watering holes, so can have a large turnover of customers.
Never quite has "locals" feel to it although there are quite a few regulars in
the clientele, probably due to its size. The beer can be patchy in quality but
is normally good, and the prices can't be touched locally. Very busy weekends,
but can go quiet(er) after 9.30 on Friday/Saturday as the younger set move on to
places with late licences. Food offered until about 9.00pm, usual pub type menu,
usually good and reasonably priced. Stand it the wrong place at the bar and it
can take a while to get served, where the wrong place seems to be wherever I end
up.

I always laugh when I see the sign for the
"Disabled toilet", surely it is a "Toilet for the disabled", a disabled toilet
is one that does not work correctly...It is not alone in offering such a
facility, many such establishments break loos and then offer them for use to
those in wheelchairs.

I relocated to the States 2004, November
from Hayes. I was a nightly guest for many years standing at the end of the
bar, before you go up the stairs to the looooooo. There was Big Al,
Pete, Len, Phil, Norman, Lesley, John, Brian, Sir Richard Branson aka Brian,
and Vince and anyone else that dared to join us!

I had my bantering with the bar maids,
Shirley, Kelly, etc. I must tell you how much I really miss the ole
Pub. There is absolutely nothing here in my area to compare with
Moons!!!!!!!! There is absolutely no beer to compare with "Summer
Lightning". If you ever want to start up a Pub over here I'll be more
than willing to run the place and serve up the finest beers in the states
for Moons!!!!!

The company of the fellow mates and the
liveliness of the Pub's atmosphere cannot be replicated.

My hat is off to your
establishment----and employees!!!!

I must tell you I'll be there this June
2007 when we come over for the Goodwood Festival of Speed and will stop at
Moons. Just so you are forewarned!!!!!

Vince Owen formerly of Hayes Middx, UK

Anything special?

Once Woolworths, the skylight from the old
shop remains, but is interesting because although I can't be certain I don't
think there is sky above it. The pub, it seems, is a training ground for
managers who then move off and manage their own pubs, and it seems to work well
for this. Staff behind the bar seem to come and go, and then come back again!